Disruptive Technologies, Ivory Towers, and Literacy in Education
I recently asked one of my eighth grade classes, “Why do we have school? What’s the point?” The most common (serious) answer was, “To prepare me for a better, more successful life.” That seems to be a reasonable answer, but when we dig a little deeper it becomes more complicated. What is a better life? What does it look like? What skills will the children need and how will they use them? These answers are no longer simple in today’s world and they hold some insight into our future roles as educators of tomorrow’s adults. As is often the case, perhaps some clues about our future can be gathered by examining the purpose and role of education in the past.